Sonny's Blues

"Sonny's Blues" is a heartfelt story written by an incredible author, James Baldwin, who has long been one of my favorite writers. This piece, like many of his others, details the plight of African Americans freeing themselves from the mental bondages of their surroundings, the ghetto. This story tells us about two brothers, their individual flight from their repressed surroundings and their eventual unification as brothers through the powerful language and musical art knows as jazz.

The title of the story "Sonny's Blues" is an excellent use of symbolism. The term "blues" accurately depicts the bondage and plight of Sonny and his brother as Black men in a white society, it is used as a method of discussing Sonny's struggles with his addiction, and it personifying as the Sonny's aspirations of a jazz career.

Baldwin frequently writes in the first person, and this piece is no exception. The story is written from the prospective of the unnamed older brother who, through his educational experiences feel that he has fled the consequences of poverty. Although he continues to live in a public housing development, he has mentally surpassed what white society has expected for a Black man during this era. He has served in the military, married, has become educated, is a white collar worker - a teacher, and is raising children of his own . The brother wrestles with that fact that he, but not Sonny has succeeded to overcome the barriers of his poverty and states, "Some escaped the trap, most didn't. Those who got out always left something behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap. It might be sad, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher." This brother has made a promise to his mother to look after his younger brother and lives constantly with the guilt that he has not been able to accomplish the tasks of parenting and protecting his...

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1 – What statement dos the story make about the relationship of art to life or about the relationship of art to suffering?
Sonny’sBlues by James Baldwin is a short story written in 1957. It is a story about Sonny, and his relationship to music, his brother, the narrator and the society he is living in. This story takes place in Harlem, New York, which is known to be a major African-Americans residential and cultural place. It is also known for its poverty and place where drugs are frequently used and present. The narrator is Sonny’s older brother. He seems to succeed in life by joining the army, getting married, having three children until the lost of his younger child, Gracie who died of polio. Sonny is the lost brother and son of Harlem. He only lives for one thing and only, to be a musician, and he wants to play his piano and play the jazz. When the narrator and Sonny are finally getting along it seems like it is already too late to save Sonny from the bad habits of using drug. Sonny is a drug addict to heroin. His suffering life controlled by the addiction of heroin is also the life that permits him to live his music to the fullest. This paradox emphasizes the relationship of art to life and art to suffering. James Baldwin illustrates this theme using the blues music, which is a type of folk music developed in the 19th century by African-Americans in the south, often addressing suffering loss....

...Sonny’sblues--Suffering
After analyzing the short story “Sonny'sBlues,” suffering seems to be the major theme of the story. Suffering scan be transformed into a form of expression. Nothing exemplifies that more than the setting and mood of the story. The spectrum of the irony contributed more to the suffering than anything else. The structure of the story is particularly striking because of the way irony leads to liberation. Suffering was liberated by the passion and the relapse of dark environment Sonny had.
Sonny and his brother faced many struggles during the time they lived. Growing up in an environment where poverty, depression, drugs is the escape route in life. Baldwin took two brothers who were initially brought in the same environment and portrayed two opposite spectrums of where two paths can lead. I think it’s ironic how the two brothers are brought up under the same room but they ended up on completely two different paths in the beginning of the story. To make matters worse, the narrator is an algebra teacher while Sonny is a drug addict. For Sonny, heroin is a seductive outlet for his blues, but he knows that in the end it will kill him. Sonny is looking for a way to conceal the blues within him but admits in a letter to his brother that "trouble is the one thing that never does get stopped.'' Music promises freedom from these blues, though, and during...

...How does Baldwin's real-life experience connect to his short story, "Sonny'sBlues"?
The writer was a poor boy growing up. He was also a Negro, so things were bad for him and his family in white America. He probably felt sad every day of his childhood so he turned to books for entertainment and maybe escape. When he started reading, he found that he liked it and wanted to create stories for other people to enjoy, but he was a poor Negro boy who could not expect help from the whites, so he taught himself to write. That is similar to Sonny, who taught himself to play the piano.
In the final scene, Sonny performs some improvisational jazz. What is improvisational music? What do we learn about Sonny through his performance? Explain.
Improvisational music is when the band members just start playing tunes that come out of their heads. These are tunes they have never played or seen before. There is no music for them to read or write down; they just play from their heart. When Sonny starts, it seems like he is unconfident. He does not believe in himself very much until he gets into his rhythm and then he really gets down. It’s like he finally sees that people are going to accept him and not make fun of him.
Professor Henderson observes that Baldwin adds depth and meaning to "Sonny'sBlues" through the effective use of symbolism. Identify words or passages that demonstrate Baldwin's use of symbolism, such...

...﻿Regina Carbone
Dr. Jessica Datema
WRT – 201 – 089WB
October 20, 2014
The Darkness In Between “Sonny’sBlues”
“Sonny’sBlues” is a short story, written by James Baldwin, about two brothers from Harlem, NY. The story is told in the first person perspective by one brother about is younger brother, Sonny. The narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the story, is Sonny’s older brother and no other siblings are mentioned, so it is safe to assume it is only the two of them. The narrator remains unnamed simply because his name is not relevant. The story is told by him, from his perspective, however, it does not matter who he is exactly. The narrator is a representation of the few black men in that time that were able to overcome the effects of inequality. We learn at the beginning of the story that the narrator was an algebra teacher, meaning he was able to get a fair education, he was able to finish school and make a career from the schooling he endured. Sonny, on the other hand, was not as fortunate. Sonny, like many from Harlem in that time, got mixed up in the wrong crowd, experimented with drugs, was ridiculed for spending time “in a white girl’s apartment” (Beiderwell, Wheeler 400).
Not only does the narrator remain unnamed, but also it evident early on that he is unable to “hear” what his brother, and many others, have to say. During a flashback to when their mother passed away, the narrator and...

...The story Sonny’sBlues by James Baldwin is the story of the tumultuous relationship between two brothers. The anonymous narrator, a well-off Harlem algebra teacher, is seven years the senior to his brother Sonny. The narrator is a cold and judgmental man. Sonny is a jazz pianist whose passion for music is not comprehended by his older brother. The story is not in precise chronological order; however, Baldwin allows everything to come full circle in the end. As we follow the relationship of the narrator and Sonny, we see that suffering can be transformed into an art form such as blues music. The music helps to serve as a means for change. Through this change the narrator begins to understand not blues and Sonny, but also himself.
The beginning of the story finds the narrator learning of his brother, Sonny’s, arrest via the morning newspaper. Sonny was arrested for the use of heroin and the narrator is shocked and disturbed, and it is this shock that helps to initiate the healing of the brothers’ relationship. The narrator encounters one of Sonny’s old friends after work on the same day he heard the news. He is very guarded in the conversation. For no reason, he feels a sense of hatred towards the friend. He states, “But now, abruptly, I hated him.” The friend continues the conversation by telling the narrator that he was the first person to tell Sonny about the effects of heroin. It is...

...Point of View and Symbolism in “Sonny’sBlues”
The story “Sonny’sBlues” by James Baldwin makes excellent use of multiple literary elements. Namely, I think the writer utilizes symbolism and the nuances of point of view to give the story a deeper connotation that could not be said plainly. The meat of the story is about an unnamed older brother’s relationship and differences with his younger brother, Sonny. Sonny’s aspiration to become a jazz pianist leads him in an opposite direction than his brother, and into a world where the common suffering is dealt with by heroin and music. The fundamental differences between the brothers in their lack of understanding for each other and their gradual acceptance of one another is highlighted and explained by what the symbolism adds to the story and the change in the narrator’s point of view at the end of the story.
The symbolism in this story divulges information about the characters that could never have just been plainly said. Perhaps the greatest factor in the contrast between the two is the career paths they have chosen. Sonny’s dream is to become an accomplished jazz/bebop pianist. During the mid 1900’s when this story is set, that profession is the embodiment of black culture. The whole genre of music was born out of the suffering and woes of the then contemporary black society. The brother, on the other hand, became an algebra teacher, a...

...When it comes to author James Baldwin’s short story Sonny’sBlues, there is much depth given to the storyline and the characters. Sonny’sBlues has been analyzed by many different people throughout time because the story has many elements. From Baldwin’s skillful use of metaphors and similes to his incorporation of religious references, this story is insightfully and complexly written. A simple story about a man and his brother leaves readers with an inside look into family, drug addiction, socioeconomic struggles in the Black community, and the language of Jazz music.
Sonny’sBlues is a story about an aspiring musician’s life as it is seen through his older brother’s eyes. The story begins with Sonny’s older brother, an Algebra teacher, finding out that Sonny has been sent to prison due to a drug related crime. He finds this out by reading about the incident in the newspaper because apparently Sonny’s lifestyle has caused the brothers to lose contact. After a tragedy strikes, the unnamed narrator reaches out to Sonny in an attempt to mend their relationship. Throughout the piece, the narrator shares past experiences from their childhood as well as family secrets, and events that shaped both brothers’ adult lives. Readers ultimately come to learn that Sonny is a misunderstood Jazz musician that has walked a rough road, but in the end he is just trying to...

...Sonny'sBlues
A captivating tale of a relationship between two troubling brothers in Harlem, "Sonny'sBlues" is told from the perception of Sonny's brother, whose name is never mentioned. Baldwin's choice of Sonny's brother as a narrator is what makes "Sonny'sBlues" significant in terms of illustrating the relationship and emotional complications of Sonny and his brother. The significance of "Sonny'sBlues" lies in the way Sonny's brother describes their relationship based on what he observes, hears, and feels, and how he struggles trying to understand Sonny through the course of the story. This is a story of how two African Americans brothers take their own path through life as they struggle to find meaning in their lives.
Sonny's brother point of view is shared in this story as he feels responsible to keep his brother safe. The brother learns to listen throughout this story to better understand Sonny's life. This story is primarily about Sonny's brothers' life, how he struggled in his life and how he is now watching his younger brother Sonny go through the same situation. He worries about Sonny's life; that Sonny might not be able to escape the turmoil that life brings especially being a musician with no ties to family and job security....